Sarah Angliss

I'm about to replace my ageing (and ailing) Mac laptop which I gig with all the time and am wondering if any of you could spare a few minutes to share your thoughts on current soundcards.

I've noticed Firewire is disappearing from laptops and being replaced by Thunderbolt 2. So I'm wondering what to do about my soundcard. At the mo, I use a Motu Ultralite Mk III hybrid but have always been wary about using USB for the soundcard as I'm always running many other USB devices (robots etc). So I'm trying to weigh up possible replacements that use Thunderbolt. However, if any of you mix your USB laptop with many other USB-based performance devices with no issues, I'd be really interested to hear from you.

I'd be particularly keen to hear thoughts on non-MOTU soundcards as the two I've bought so far are, in my opinion, far too flimsy for gigging - essential connectors breaking, LCDs or buttons failing in just a few weeks.

At the moment I use 8 analogue ins and 8 analogue outs live, including two mic inputs. What are you using at the mo and how reliability does it work with Max? I don't mind spending a little more to get something that actually lasts as there's nothing more stressful than arriving at a gig with a flaky soundcard

I'm about to replace my ageing (and ailing) Mac laptop which I gig with all the time and am wondering if any of you could spare a few minutes to share your thoughts on current soundcards. 

soundcard-suggestions

I buy refurbished MacBook Pros specifically so I still get FireWire.

These days I'm using two RME UCX interfaces over FireWire and they work great and sound way better than the MOTU 828mk3 that they replaced.

I tried using them over USB and although they seemed to work fine, my MOTU USB MIDI interface started dropping MIDI events occasionally and MOTU told me that there can be problems when you use USB for audio.

I have not tried a thunderbolt to FireWire adapter yet, mostly because I don't want to have to deal with an extra attachment on the side of my laptop when touring.

I buy refurbished MacBook Pros specifically so I still get FireWire.
These days I'm using two RME UCX interfaces over FireWire and they work great and sound way better than the MOTU 828mk3 that they replaced. 

I have not tried a thunderbolt to FireWire adapter yet, mostly because I don't want to have to deal with an extra attachment on the side of my laptop when touring.


I use RME fireface400 The sound quality is very good. You can travel with it.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_400.php

I use RME fireface400 The sound quality is very good. You can travel with it. 

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_400.php


Yeah, The RME fireface400 is a fine product.

Thanks for all the suggestions - very useful. dhjdhjdhj - I take your point about buying a refurb Mac with a Firewire for stage use. I may end up going that way. On that note, have any of you used a Firewire RME, Motu or other souncard with Thunderbolt on a Mac, via the converter dongle? Is it any good? Is it robust enough for stage use (apart from the fact it's one more thing to accidentally leave behind or pull out). I remember reading that Motu won't work with the converter but I've never had a machine on which to try it. I wonder if anyone other than Motu offers a Thunderbolt soundcard...

Thanks for all the suggestions - very useful. dhjdhjdhj - I take your point about buying a refurb Mac with a Firewire for stage use. I may end up going that way. On that note, have any of you used a Firewire RME, Motu or other souncard with Thunderbolt on a Mac, via the converter dongle? Is it any good? Is it robust enough for stage use (apart from the fact it's one more thing to accidentally leave behind or pull out). I remember reading that Motu won't work with the converter but I've never had a machine on which to try it. I wonder if anyone other than Motu offers a Thunderbolt soundcard...
Thanks everyone!
Sarah


Soundcard suggestions?